Daily Archives: March 13, 2008 »

Anti-G8 activist detained and beaten

Mick Meaney March 13, 2008 0

German activist Martin Kramer, en route to Japan to prepare for the Hokkaido G8 summit protests, was arrested by police in the city of Vanino in the Habarovsk region of the Russian Far East

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UK MEPs fined after EU treaty protest

Mick Meaney March 13, 2008 0

Four British MEPs have been fined hundreds of pounds for staging an EU treaty referendum protest in the European parliament. The president of the European parliament, Hans-Gert Pöttering, has docked the allowances of MEPs

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MoD requests ‘voluntary’ DNA samples

Mick Meaney March 13, 2008 0

The Ministry of Defence (MoD) is asking armed forces personnel to voluntarily submit DNA samples leading to fears that they are becoming part of a larger national DNA database. Under secretary of state for

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Experts wary over ID card plan

Mick Meaney March 13, 2008 0

Home Office slows ID card rollout as independent Treasury study recommends fast implementation The government’s failure to take on board the recommendations of independent reports on the national identity card scheme may lead to

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Detainee’s Suit Says Abuse Was Videotaped

Mick Meaney March 13, 2008 0

Lawyers for a detainee held at the Navy brig in Charleston, S.C., allege in court papers to be filed today that their client was systematically abused and that he was told there were cabinets

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Khadr’s lawyers want names of U.S. interrogators

Mick Meaney March 13, 2008 0

Lawyers for Omar Khadr are asking a U.S. military judge for the names of interrogators who questioned the Canadian citizen in Afghanistan in an attempt to prove he was tortured. Khadr’s lawyers were to

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Budget Falls A Long Way Short On Green Action

Mick Meaney March 13, 2008 0

Environmentalists are calling Alistair Darling’s first Budget as Chancellor a ‘green smokescreen’, accusing him of giving with one hand, but taking away with the other. While Mr Darling announced plans for ‘green’ taxes on

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George Bush lashes out at Hugo Chavez

Mick Meaney March 13, 2008 0

George Bush has accused the Venezuelan president of “praising terrorists” and of squandering his country’s oil wealth to fuel a campaign against the US. The US president criticised Hugo Chavez’s reaction to a recent

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Israel to boycott Al-Jazeera

Mick Meaney March 13, 2008 0

Israel will boycott Al-Jazeera over what it calls the channel’s ‘biased coverage’ of the regime’s military operation in Gaza. The regime’s foreign ministry has held discussions on the matter and decided to impose an

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Ferraro Steps Down From Clinton Campaign

Mick Meaney March 13, 2008 1

After making racially-charged comments about Sen. Barack Obama, D-Ill., former vice presidential Democratic nominee Geraldine Ferraro stepped down Wednesday as a surrogate and member of the finance committee for the presidential campaign of Sen.

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Spitzer’s Shame Is Wall Street’s Gain

Mick Meaney March 13, 2008 0

Tell me again: Why should we get all worked up over the revelation that the New York governor paid for sex? Will it bring back to life the eight U.S. soldiers killed in Iraq

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Faceless: Chasing the Data Shadow

Mick Meaney March 13, 2008 0

Remote-controlled UAVs (Unmanned Aerial Vehicles) scan the city for anti-social behaviour. Talking cameras scold people for littering the streets (in children’s voices). Biometric data is extracted from CCTV images to identify pedestrians by their

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China slams US human rights report

Mick Meaney March 13, 2008 0

China on Wednesday voiced strong opposition to the US State Department’s 2007 Human Rights Report that criticizes China’s human rights conditions. “China is willing to have dialogue and exchange of views with other countries

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